While the Trump administration is busy removing references to issues it would rather not acknowledge and covering them up with doublespeak, “the reality is that…the burning of fossil fuels by humans, spewing carbon and other greenhouse gases into the air… has increased the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans. And unless we take quick and radical steps… the world as we know it will change, with species die-offs, coastline changes, more intense major storms and altered drought and rain patterns. And it will happen whether Trump uses the words ‘climate change’ or not.”

“Once again, a hurricane has slammed ashore on our coastline and all too many Texans will now face the daunting task of cleaning up and starting over.” Current Texans can take solace by remembering “that generations of Texans have survived storms as bad and even worse than Harvey. At the same time, let’s also remember a lesson we’ve learned through bitter experience: We can’t prevent hurricanes from hitting us, but we have to do everything we can to prepare for them.”